A 38-year-old man died after a crash at a Hanford intersection, and the driver of the other vehicle was booked into jail on suspicion of driving under the influence. Jose Lopez was found unresponsive with visible injuries and a weak pulse inside a Toyota Prius, and he later died at the hospital.
Hanford police officers were dispatched to the intersection of 12th Avenue and Grangeville Boulevard at around 10:30 p.m., according to yourcentralvalley.com. Officers arriving at the scene found Lopez unresponsive and with visible injuries inside the Prius, and he was taken to Adventist Health Hanford, where he later died, according to KMPH. The other driver, 61-year-old George Beucher, was behind the wheel of a Ford F-250 and was found at the scene with only minor injuries.
Investigators believe Beucher’s pickup failed to stop at the red light and collided with Lopez’s vehicle. Police told yourcentralvalley.com that it is believed the suspect ran a red light and crashed into the victim.
Field Sobriety Tests and Booking
Beucher was given a series of field sobriety tests, which police said he failed, and he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of DUI. Beucher was then booked into the Kings County Jail on suspicion of DUI and great bodily injury causing death, per the same account from yourcentralvalley.com.
Police said the investigation into the crash remains ongoing and are asking anyone with information to contact officials. The exact circumstances of the collision, including the roadway conditions and the vehicles’ speeds, have not been detailed by investigators.
A Broader Pattern of DUI Deaths in the Valley
The Hanford case follows a similar, more prolonged legal saga in Lemoore. A 60-year-old man was sentenced this year for a DUI crash that killed an Uber driver back in 2019, according to yourcentralvalley.com. That crash occurred on June 29, 2019, when Marvin Vance Reese Sr. allegedly crossed the center line on Highway 41 in a Hummer H2 and collided head-on with a Hyundai Elantra. Reese was found guilty of second-degree murder following a jury trial on December 9, 2025, and was ultimately sentenced to five years plus 45 years to life in state prison.
Statewide, alcohol-impaired driving remains one of the primary causes of deadly and serious-injury crashes on California roads, according to the state's Office of Traffic Safety, which recorded 1,355 people killed in alcohol-involved crashes in 2023. A separate investigation by CalMatters found that alcohol-related roadway deaths in the state have climbed by more than 50% over the past decade, and that drivers with prior DUIs are involved in a majority of the state's fatal and injury DUI crashes. The same investigation noted that ignition interlock devices prevented more than 30,500 attempts to drive under the influence in 2023 alone.
It remains unclear what charges prosecutors may ultimately file against Beucher or what penalties he could face if convicted.
